Who Are You?
Plat… Plat… Plat…
Someone was laying on a lawn, decently well-kept by the owner of the house. Said owner of the house was approaching the person, knowing all too well how someone he’s never seen would be on his lawn.
Carefully, he picked the woman up and got her inside his house, resting her on the couch and giving her his long black coat to act as a blanket. He had no doubts in his mind that she was outside during the recent storm, as she had felt wet when he had picked her up. She was out cold, and probably colder than she would like.
The man then started to ponder as he prepared some tea.
He did not doubt the how of the mystery woman appearing, he questioned the why. To his knowledge, there was no reason for her being sent. Unless something drastic were to happen, there would be little to no reason for her arrival. Though what drastic measure would occur for someone from the surface to be sent down, he was unsure.
The woman stayed on his couch for days, barely moving. Yet each time he checked her pulse by her wrist, she was completely fine. While he was familiar with the phenomenon, he had not seen it in person before now, as he had not been trusted with such a duty in the past.
By the start of the second week, she had started to move. It was small at first, so small the owner of the house barely noticed, but he did eventually notice indeed. He started to give her more sips of water or very liquid soup, ensuring that she swallowed each time.
Halfway through the second week, the woman started to move entire limbs on her own, and didn’t have to be forced to swallow half the time. By the time the third week hit, she was starting to move about on her own. The owner of the house started to find it difficult to know exactly where his guest was. He once found her tucked away in a closet. Another time, she had managed to get under the rug.
Despite the unpredictability of his guest, he remained calm. It would do him no good to try to be upset at her when she was essentially sleepwalking.
The routine kept up for a total of a month. Far quicker and far slower than the owner of the house thought it was going to take
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
The woman’s head was throbbing in pain. It hurt so much. Curling herself up and shutting her eyes tight, she tried to think of something happier. Something to take her mind off the pain.
But it didn’t work.
No matter how hard she thought, she was not able to think of an instance where she was happy. Looking deeper required too much thought, but it felt slippery every second, like she was trying to climb up a slippery slope.
“Ah, you’re awake.” A gruff voice noted, and the woman finally tore her eyes away from her arms to look up at the stranger. He was decently tall, and fairly muscular, with blonde hair that was tied up in a ponytail. No matter how hard she tried though, she could not see his eyes, like a fog of darkness covering everything on his face above his mouth.
“Don’t startle now, you just woke up.” The man reassured her, crouching down onto the floor to match height with her. “The name’s Noel.”
As casual as it was, the way he gave her his name, she did not find the same ease in her voice trying to give her name in turn. Her voice was fire, crackling and uneven in its breaking down. “A- Ar- Arya”
Noel nodded, seeming to understand her difficulty as he offered her his hand. “Don’t stress yourself. You should expect to be dizzy as well. Let me help you.”
Arya had difficulty taking it. Could she trust him? Would he just drop her?
She didn’t know, and so she wobbled, attempting to stand up on her own, when she toppled right back down.
Noel seemed to spot her fall before she did, quickly moving to catch her instead of letting her hit the wooden floor.
“Please don’t make this harder than it needs to be. You need rest after what happened.” He encouraged, setting her down gently on his couch.
Arya was still confused, however. Who was this stranger? Where was she? But trying to ask these questions felt difficult, as if they were stuck in her throat and she would have to tear them out.
Noticing his guest’s silence, Noel simply sat across from her, ready to take things at her pace. While it quietly frustrated him that he couldn’t get answers now, his logical side knew that she would need to be the one to answer.
